Chinese President, Premier may visit India this year as both nations make Doklam a thing of past

The forward-looking approach adopted by India and China after the Doklam standoff could see top leaders from Beijing visiting Delhi this year. Senior officials here don’t rule out a trip to India by Chinese President Xi Jinping or Premier Li Keqiang.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to visit China in June for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit — his fourth visit to the neighbouring country since 2015 — it is widely expected that a top leader from China could also visit India this year, people familiar with the developments said.

ET had first reported that Modi would visit China for the SCO Summit. While the PM was in China on a bilateral trip in 2015, it was the G-20 Summit that took him there in 2016, followed by the BRICS Summit last year.

Xi visited India once as President, in September 2014. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank meet to be held in Mumbai in May would also witness a high-level visit from China.

The two sides have lined up several mid-level engagements in the coming months, including a possible visit by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. But the Modi government is keen on a high-level visit from China this year, as the PM is again visiting that country.

It is possible also as the two sides are interested in narrowing the differences over a host of issues, from Sino-Pak axis and Pak-based terror infrastructure to India’s NSG membership and the BRI.

Keeping this high-level visits and interactions in mind, the government recently issued an advisory asking senior leaders and officials in states and at the Centre to stay away from Dalai Lama’s events.